Human Rights < Archive

Witch Hunt for Gay Men Underway In Egypt

"Sources in Egypt, communicating under condition of anonymity, fear the men are being tortured while in detention."

On the night of May 10, 2001, police arrested 55 or more Egyptian men in a raid on a discotheque in Cairo which is frequented by gays. Since then, the men have been held incommunicado, without access to legal representation or to their families. State Security officers have described the detained men as members of a "Satanist" organization, and threatened to try them before a special security court whose judgments admit no appeal.

Sources in Egypt, communicating with the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) under condition of anonymity, fear the men are being tortured while in detention. They have been the subject of intense vilification in the Egyptian press, promoting fears of both religious dissent and foreign influences.

IGLHRC is gravely concerned that these men are victims of trumped-up charges, and of a government determined to improve its own political position by taking sexual nonconformity as the sign of a subversive cult. IGLHRC is also gravely concerned by the possibility that these men may have been subjected to torture. IGLHRC also fears that 55 "Satanists" will only whet, not sate, the State's witch-hunting appetite: this incident may mark the beginning of a broader campaign of harassment against gay men in Egypt.

For more information contact Surina Khan at surina@glhrc.org, or 415-255-8680.